SURGICAL DRAPE AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY

Abstract: A modular surgical drape, having a first drape portion and a detachable second drape portion is provided. The first drape portion may be formed from either disposable materials or reusable materials. The first drape portion may further include separable sections for affecting the dimension or creating an opening in the first drape portion. The second drape portion may be formed from either disposable materials or reusable materials. Surgical procedure attachments may be secured to the second drape portion.

Description: SURGICAL DRAPE AND METHOD OP ASSEMBLY FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to surgical drapes and more particularly, to surgical drapes having surgical procedure attachments secured thereto. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is generally known, sterile surgical drapes can be designed to greatly reduce, if not prevent, the transmission through the draping material of liquids and biological contaminates which may become entrained therein. In such surgical procedure environments, liquid and biological contaminates include, for example, operating room personnel perspiration, patient liquids, such as blood, and life support liquids, such as plasma and saline. In the past, reusable surgical drapes were made of cotton or linen and were sterilized prior to use in the operating room. These materials however permitted transmission or "strike-through" of various liquids encountered in surgical procedures. In these instances, a path was established for transmission of bacteria and other contaminates to and from the patient. Disposable surgical drapes, which are also sterilized prior to use in the operating room, have largely replaced the reusable surgical drapes, such as linen and cotton surgical drapes. Many disposable surgical drapes are customized to be compatible with specific procedures such as neurological, obstetric, orthopedic, cardiovascular and ophthalmic procedures. several procedures, such as eye, abdominal, limb and back surgery may be performed on either the right- or the left-hand side of the body, depending upon the ailment or injury. As a result of the number of specific procedures requiring drape customizing, as well as the inherent dexterity requirements of each, many different variations of customized drapes must be stocked to accommodate these specific procedures. The alternative to customizing is a cumbersome single drape design used to cover all options. Physician preference for preforming surgical procedures from the patients right side or left side also contributes to the quantity of stocked customized draping. Additionally, such customization may further include incorporating various surgical procedure attachments or "work stations" into the drape about the operating site. Such surgical procedure attachments include, tubes, hoses, fluid collecting and channeling structures, tube holders, non-skid surfaces, laser shielding, absorbent surfaces, fabric reinforcement, attachment tape, clipping tabs, retractor tabs, and adhesive incise. The addition of such attachments or work stations to the surgical drape further taxes storage space, costs, material usage and disposal concerns. Therefore, there exists a need for a surgical drape or a surgical drape system which provides the "customization" required by the surgical community, is storage friendly, and is responsive to efficient resource management, such as material resources, acquisition resources and disposal resources. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The inventor, conscious of the above mentioned problems with conventional surgical drapes, has studied the life cycle of conventional surgical drapes and draping systems from manufacture to disposal. Particularly, the inventor has studied the manufacturing process of conventional drapes and has noted the large assembling stations required to customize conventional drapes, particularly about the operating site, in addition to the time assemblers exhausted simply handling and having to work around peripheral drape material. The inventor has further observed and appreciated that during most surgical procedures, the portion or area of the drape dedicated to the operating site or area of penetration generally is of an area less than about one half and in some cases substantially less than about one half of the total area of the drape. Furthermore, with improved fluid containment systems and other such surgical procedure attachments previously mentioned secured to the drape about the area of operation, the inventor has observed that such attachments significantly reduce or prevent the incident of insult or contact of liquids to the area or portion of the gown outboard of the operating site. The inventor has further observed that during surgery there occurs from time to time a need to replace a surgical procedure attachment or re-configure surgical procedure attachments. These observations and other observations by the inventor, such as drape storage, disposal and acquisition have led the inventor to conceive the present invention. In response to the above difficulties and problems encountered with conventional drapes a new surgical drape has been fashioned. More particularly, the present invention relates to a modular surgical drape having a first drape portion and a second drape portion. The first drape portion may include an opening therein. A means is provided for selective coupling and uncoupling the second drape portion to the first drape portion. When the first drape portion includes an opening therein, the second drape portion may be selectively coupled and uncoupled to the first drape portion about the opening. The first drape portion may also be provided with separable sections. The separable sections may be located about the first drape portion so that the dimension of or location of an opening therein may be affected upon the separation of one or more separable sections. The first drape portion may also include portions thereof which are reinforced by a distinct layer of material. The first drape portion and second drape portion may be formed from similar material, such as either all disposable material or all reusable material. Alternatively, the first drape portion and the second drape portion may be made of reusable and disposable material. For example, the first drape portion may be made of a reusable or re-sposable (limited reuse) material and the second drape portion made of disposable material. Additionally, the first drape portion may be made of a disposable material and the second drape portion may be made of reusable material. The present invention may further include work stations and/or surgical procedure attachments. These work stations and surgical procedure attachments may be positioned on the second drape portion or on a work station panel which is positioned on the second drape portion. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front plan view of a surgical drape illustrating a first drape portion and a second drape portion with surgical procedure attachments. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a surgical drape illustrating a second drape portion above an opening in the first drape portion. FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of FIG. 1 in both an upward and outward direction illustrating the second drape portion and surgical procedure attachments. FIG. 4 is a surgical drape with one possible set of dimensions. FIG. 5 is a front plan view of another embodiment of a first drape portion illustrating separable sections. FIG. 6 is a front plan view of another embodiment of the present invention illustrating a first drape portion with separable sections and a second drape portion. FIG. 7 is a front plan view of another embodiment of a first drape portion illustrating reinforcing material about an opening in the first drape portion. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Several terms are used herein to refer to various parts of the surgical drape as the drape is positioned about the operating room and patient. The "front" refers to that part of the drape which faces away from the patient. The "back" refers to that part of the drape which faces the patient. The "side" or "sides" refer to that part of the drape which overlay the side or lateral portions of the patient. Additionally, several terms are used herein to refer to attaching, detaching and reattaching one or more parts of the drape to another part of the drape such that these parts may be selectively coupled, uncoupled and recoupled to one another. These terms include "detachably joined", "detachably secured", "detachably attached" and derivatives and synonyms thereof. Such coupling of these drape parts to one another may be accomplished by several conventional methods. By way of example and not limitation, these methods include zipping, snapping, taping, using atingly engaging hook and loop fasteners, such as VELCRO*, buttons, magnetic fasteners, cohesive adhesives, adhesives and other such detachable coupling and reattachable coupling methods familiar to those skilled in the art. Turning now to the drawings and referring first to FIG. 1, a drape 10 includes a first drape portion 12 and a second drape portion 14 which is detachably secured to the first drape portion 12 about an opening 24, indicated by dotted lines, in the first drape portion 12. The first drape portion 12 is defined by an upper edge 16, side edges 17, 18, 19, 21, 22 and 23 and a lower edge 20 and the opening 24, which is more clearly illustrated in FIG. 2. More particularly the drape 10 is a laparoscopy drape with left and right arm board covers defined by edges 16, 17 and 18, and 16, 23 and 22, respectively. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention is equally applicable for use in a plurality surgical procedures which require drape designs which are different from the design of drape 10. By way of example and not limitation, other drape designs for other surgical procedures requiring a drape design different from the design illustrated in FIGs. 1-4 include a lap-chole drape, a thyroid drape and an arthroscopy drape. The second drape portion 14 is defined by an upper edge 25, side edges 26 and 28 and a lower edge 27. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the second drape portion 14 is sized for overlying portions of the first drape portion 12 near the opening 24. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the second drape portion 14 may be sized with respect to the opening 24 such that a plurality of cooperative orientations between the second drape portion 14 and the first drape portion 12 about the opening 24 are achieved. By way of example and not limitation, the second drape portion 14 may be sized such that the edges thereof abut the edges of the first drape portion 12 defining the opening 24. Additionally, the second drape portion 14 may be sized such that the edges thereof are spaced a distance from the edges of the first drape portion 12 defining the opening 24 when the second drape portion 14 is positioned within the opening 24. In this instance, the second drape portion 14 may be, for example detachably coupled to the first drape portion 12 by tape contacting the first drape portion 12 and the second drape portion 14. Desirably, the second drape portion 14 is detachably coupled to the first drape portion 12 such that the opening 24 is occluded by the second drape portion 14 and the means for detachably coupling the second drape portion 14 to the first drape portion 12 about the opening 24. The means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the second drape portion 14 to the first drape portion 12 may reside separately on the first drape 12 portion or separately on the second drape portion 14 or such means may be shared, wherein a portion of the means resides upon the first drape portion 12 and a portion of the means resides upon the second drape portion 14. The coupling means may be secured to either the front or back of either the first drape portion 12 or the second drape portion 14. As will be discussed in greater detail below, a work station 30 overlies the second drape portion 14. Generally, the work station 30 may include one or more surgical procedure attachments. The work station 30 or surgical procedure attachment(s) may be affixed to the second drape portion 14 by permanent means or the workstation 30 may be detachably secured by the means previously described for detachably securing the first and second portions. FIG. 2 more clearly illustrated opening 24 in the first drape portion 12. Turning now to FIG. 3, the work station 30 includes a work station panel 32 having an opening or opening cutout pattern 34. The work station panel 32 may be detachably secured to the second drape portion 14 such that the opening 34 of the workstation panel 32 vertically aligns with an opening or an opening cutout pattern 38 indicated by dotted lines in the second drape portion 14. Several surgical procedure attachments, as previously discussed and schematically illustrated by reference numerals 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d, may be affixed to the work station panel about the opening 34. It will be further appreciated, though not illustrated, that in some applications, such surgical procedure attachments 36 a-d may be affixed to the second drape portion 14. In this case, the need for the work station panel 32 may be avoided. As previously mentioned, the surgical procedure attachments 36 a-d, such as those mentioned above, may be included on the second drape portion 14. In this way, the second drape portion 14 may be configured for a selected procedure and coupled to the first drape portion 14. As surgical procedure attachment requirements change during the operation, the second drape portion 14 may be uncoupled and a properly configured second drape portion 14 coupled to the first drape portion 14. Alternatively, individual surgical procedure attachments 36 a-d may be removed from either the second drape portion 14 or work station panel 32 during the surgical procedure as surgical procedure attachment requirements change. In this way, during the process of reconfiguring or changing surgical procedure attachments, only a fraction of the surgical draping material is disturbed during surgery. It is noted that either the first drape portion 12 or second drape portion 14 may be made from a multitude of disposable and/or re-sposable materials including nonwoven materials. In some embodiments, a stretchable nonwoven material may be used. A material well-suited for use with the present invention is a three-layer nonwoven polypropylene material known as SMS. SMS is an acronym for spunbond, meltblown, spunbond. See for example, U.S. Patent No. 4,041,203 to Brock et al. One particular advantage is that the SMS material exhibits enhanced fluid barrier characteristics. It should be noted, however, that other disposable nonwovens as well as other materials including wovens, films, foam/film laminates and combinations thereof may be used in the present invention. It is also contemplated that either or both the first drape portion 12 and the second drape portion 14 may be coated with a liquid impervious coating to prevent fluid absorption or, alternatively, the second drape portion 14 may be made of one or more absorbent material layers. As previously mentioned, the drape 10 may be made from a combination of disposable materials and reusable materials or formed totally from reusable materials or totally from disposable materials. Examples of suitable reusable materials include, but are not limited to, cotton. 5 _ g _ linen, polyester, woven polyester and polytetrafluoroethylene. FIG. 4 illustrates a dimensionalized drape 10. The outer edges of the first drape portion 12 are similar to a conventional laparoscopy drape. For purposed of this illustration, the second drape portion 14 is assumed to abut the edges of the first drape portion 12 defining the opening (not shown) . A conventional drape formed from SMS polypropylene having a fabric weight of 1.59 oz/sq.yd. and sized to dimensions indicated for the outer edges of the first drape portion 12 would have a total drape area of 9,654 square inches and an approximate weight of around 16 ounces. Such a conventional drape, after contact by biomedical waste, would require the entire 9,654 square inches of material to be treated as biomedical waste. By comparison, while the drape 10 of the present invention formed from the same material would also have a total area of about 9,654 square inches and weigh around 16 ounces, the area of the first drape portion 12 is around 7,548 square inches and weighs about 11 ounces and the area of the second drape portion 14 is around 2,106 square inches and weighs about 5 ounces. By confining the biomedical waste to the second drape portion 14, the volume and weight of drape material to be treated via biomedical waste procedures is reduced by around 70% over conventional drapes. Similar calculations may be performed to illustrate enhanced storage and material savings over conventional drapes. Turning now to FIG. 5, a first drape portion 512 is illustrated. The first drape portion 512 may be a continuous sheet of material and includes a plurality of separable sections or tear-away sections 540 a-f. The term "continuous sheet" describes a layer of material which is formed from a single piece of material or formed by affixing two or more pieces of material, such as by sewing or gluing. Borders of each separable section, 542 a-f, respectively, may be thinned, perforated or die-cut so as weaken the first drape portion 512 material along said borders. In this way, one may select the size and location of an opening corresponding to an operating site on the first drape portion 512 and remove the appropriate separable section by grasping and applying sufficient urging force so as to separate the selected separable section from the first drape portion 512. Once the location and size is determined and the appropriate separable section removed, the second drape portion (not shown in FIG. 5) may be secured to the first drape portion 512 as previously described. Referring now to FIG. 6, a first drape portion 612 and with a second drape portion 614 attached thereto is illustrated. A workstation 630, which is similar to workstation 30 illustrated in FIGs. 1,3, and 4, may be detachably secured to the second drape portion 614. The first drape portion 612 may also be a continuous sheet of material and includes a plurality of separable sections or tear-away sections 640 a and b. The borders of each separable section, 642 a and b, respectively, may be thinned, perforated or die-cut so as to weaken the material of the first drape portion 612 along said borders. In this way, the length or width of the first drape portion 612 may be quickly and selectively altered by separating the appropriate separable section from the first drape portion 612 as described above. Referring now to FIG. 7, a first drape portion 712 is illustrated. A reinforcing material 744, such as a net¬ like or mesh material formed from materials such as cotton, nylon, or other natural or synthetic fibers, is secured to the first drape portion 712. An opening 724 extending through a portion of the first drape portion 712 and the reinforcing material 744. One of the functions of the reinforcing material 744 is to maintain the shape of the opening 724. In this way, securing the second drape portion (not shown in FIG. 7) to the first drape portion 712 as previously described may be facilitated. Several advantages of the present invention are readily apparent. For example, as the drape of the present invention is modular, the first drape portion can be of a uniform or a "one-size-fits-all" variety. As such, customization is predominately confined to the second drape portion, which is generally sized to overlie the operating site. Modularity reduces manufacturing cost and time. This is so because generally, the second drape portion alone requires customizing and the securing thereon of surgical procedure attachments. The second drape portion being generally of smaller dimension than that of the first drape portion or conventional drapes allows the second drape portion to be assembled on smaller work surfaces and in absence of the otherwise cumbersome and bulky non- operating site drape material. Modularity also permits the drape purchaser to more efficiently allocate drape acquisition budgets by purchasing fewer first drape portions than second drape portions. This is so because, the first drape portion or non-operating site material can accommodate a plurality of different second drape portions. For example, rather than purchasing, storing and maintaining one left- and one right-handed conventional drape, one first drape portion and two second drape portions, one left- and one right- handed, are required. Additionally, the first drape portion may be of such dimension such that a single first drape portion may suitable for combination with several second drape portions. By using an appropriate mix of first drape portions and second drape portions provided by the present invention such a purchaser may still maintain the flexibility to meet a host of surgical demands, which otherwise, in the case of conventional drapes, would require acquisition and storage of a one to one ratio of non-operating site material with operating site material. 95/10986 _ g _ CT First drape portions with separable sections may further improve such supply and demand flexibility. Modularity further provides the purchaser with a reusable option. For example, a reusable option might include a first drape portion constructed of a reusable material able to withstand re-sterilization procedures with the second drape portion formed from a disposable material. As previously mentioned, work stations, and particularly fluid control systems, confine fluid contact with the drape to the operating site. In this way, re-sterilization and reuse of the first drape portion may be more attractive. Additionally, whether the first drape portion and second drape portion are formed from disposable materials or, as above, the first drape portion is formed from a reusable material, the present invention provides improved biomedical waste management over convention systems. This is so because the drape of the present invention can be design to make it highly likely that only the second drape portion is insulted. As such, the insulted and non-insulted portions of the drape can be separated. Separability allows the operating site portion of the drape to be disposed or processed via a biomedical waste treatment route while the non-insulted non-operating site material may be disposed or processed via a non-bio edical waste treatment route. Furthermore, modularity of the present invention offers the health care provider or intermediary drape supplier with the option of assembling or configuring the drape on- site or off-site. As the second drape portion, which is generally smaller in size and easer to handle, receives the majority of the customizing effort, on-site or off-site customizing or on-site or off-site re-configuring is now more attractive. While the invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining an understanding of the foregoing, may readily conceive of alterations to, variations or and equivalents to these embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should be assessed as that of the appended claims and any equivalents thereto.

Claims: I claim: 1. A modular surgical drape comprising: a first drape; a second drape portion; and means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the second drape portion to the first drape portion. 2. The surgical drape of claim 1 wherein the first drape portion includes at least one separable section and a means for separating the separable section from the first drape portion. 3. The surgical drape of claim 1 wherein the first drape portion is formed from a reusable material and the second drape portion is formed from a disposable material. 4. The surgical drape of claim 1 wherein the first drape portion further includes a layer of reinforcing material. 5. The surgical drape of claim 1 wherein the first drape portion includes portions thereof defining an opening and a front surface and the second drape portion includes peripheral edges, and wherein portions of the second drape portion adjacent the peripheral edges overly portions of the front surface of the first drape portion around the opening when the second drape portion is selectively coupled to the first drape portion. 6. The surgical drape of claim 1 wherein the second drape portion further includes a fenestration therein. 7. A modular surgical drape comprising: a first drape portion having a front surface, a back surface, and peripheral edges; at least one second drape portion having a front surface a back surface and peripheral edges; wherein the second drape portion is adapted for selective coupling and uncoupling to the first drape portion; and wherein the second drape portion is adapted to receive surgical procedure attachments. 8. The surgical drape of claim 7 wherein the first drape portion is formed from a reusable material and the second drape portion is formed from a disposable material. 9. The surgical drape of claim 7 wherein the first drape portion includes at least one separable section and means for separating the separable section from the first drape portion. 10. The surgical drape of claim 7 wherein portions of the second drape portion adjacent the peripheral edges overly portions of the front surface of the first drape portion around an opening defined by the first drape portion when the second drape portion is coupled to the first drape portion. 11. The surgical drape of claim 7 wherein the second drape portion further includes a fenestration therein. 12. A surgical drape portion comprising: a sheet having a front surface, a back surface and peripheral edges; wherein the sheet is adapted for selective coupling and uncoupling to a first drape portion. 13. The surgical drape of claim 12 including means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the sheet and the first drape portion. 14. The surgical drape of claim 13 wherein the means for selectively coupling and uncoupling the sheet and the first drape portion is secured about the peripheral edges of the sheet. 15. The surgical drape of claim 12 wherein the sheet is formed from a liquid impervious material. 16. The surgical drape of claim 12 wherein the sheet is formed from a disposable material. 17. A surgical drape comprising: a sheet having portions thereof defining at least one separable section and a means for separating the separable section from the sheet. 18. The drape of claim 17 wherein an opening is defined in the sheet by removing at least one separable section. 19. A method of assembling a drape comprising: providing a first drape portion and a second drape portion, wherein the first drape portion and the second drape portion are adapted for selective coupling and uncoupling; and coupling the second drape portion to the first drape portion. 20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first drape portion defines an opening and wherein the portions of the first drape portion about the opening are adapted for selective coupling and uncoupling of the second drape portion thereto.

Inventors: CARLSON GERALD INGERSOLL II, CARLSON, GERALD, INGERSOLL, II
Applicants: KIMBERLY CLARK CO, KIMBERLY-CLARK CORPORATION
Application year: 1994
Main classification: A61B19
IPC codes: A61B17, A61B19